SSC CPO Paper I 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024 PYQs

Concept: A mercenary is a soldier hired to fight for money, often in a foreign army.

1. Marine – a soldier serving on ships/naval infantry.
2. Veteran – an ex-soldier with long experience.
3. Admiral – a top-ranking naval officer. Only 'mercenary' fits 'fights for money'.

Trick: Mercenary comes from Latin merces = wages/pay.

Answer: (C) Mercenary

Concept: For a verb ending in a single vowel + single consonant with stress on the last syllable, double the final consonant before -ing.

1. be-GIN: stress on 'gin', ends in vowel 'i' + consonant 'n'.
2. So 'n' is doubled: begin → beginning (double g is wrong, single n is wrong).

Yaad rakhein: begin → beginning, run → running, admit → admitting.

Answer: (B) Beginning

Concept: Habitual means done constantly or as a habit; regular and repeated.

1. A habitual action goes on regularly and repeatedly – closest is continuous.
2. Considerate = thoughtful; Diverse = varied; Pertinent = relevant – none means 'regular/constant'.

Yaad rakhein: Habitual = regular, constant, persistent, customary.

Answer: (B) Continuous

Concept: Oligarchy (Greek oligos = few + -archy = rule) is government by a small group of people.

1. Plutocracy – rule by the wealthy.
2. Democracy – rule by the people.
3. Autocracy – rule by one person. 'Government by the few' = oligarchy.

Trick: Oligo = few (oligopoly = few sellers) → oligarchy = rule of few.

Answer: (D) Oligarchy

Concept: Fettered means restrained, chained or restricted (a fetter is a chain for the feet).

1. The recession restricted the company from investing.
2. Opposite of restricted/chained = liberated (set free).
3. Concealed = hidden; valuable = precious; depended = relied – not opposites.

Yaad rakhein: Fetter (bind) ↔ unfetter / liberate / free.

Answer: (D) Liberated

Concept: First conditional: If + simple present, … will + V1. 'Will' is not used in the if-clause.

1. Main clause 'he will buy' is future, so the if-clause takes simple present.
2. Subject 'his father' is singular → gives.
3. 'give' (plural form) and 'gave' (second conditional) are wrong.

Trick: If-clause never takes 'will' for a real future condition.

Answer: (D) If his father gives money

Concept: Insipid means lacking flavour; also dull and uninteresting.

1. Insipid food has no taste → tasteless.
2. Dismal = gloomy; Obscure = unclear; Idle = lazy/inactive.

Yaad rakhein: Insipid = bland, flavourless, tasteless.

Answer: (B) Tasteless

Concept: Insist is followed by the preposition on, and a verb after a preposition takes the -ing (gerund) form.

1. 'insisted to go' is wrong; correct form: insisted on going.
2. Option A ('insisting'), C ('insist to going') and D ('insisted go') are all ungrammatical.

Yaad rakhein: insist on, persist in, object to + V-ing.

Answer: (B) Error is in the sentence formation. Preposition and gerund are required: Mohan insisted on going there.

Concept: Spill the beans = to reveal secret information, often carelessly.

1. Example: Don't spill the beans about the surprise party.
2. Other options (accomplish a lot, be cornered, tremble) have no link with disclosing information.

Yaad rakhein: Spill the beans = let the cat out of the bag.

Answer: (A) Reveal a secret

Concept: A collective noun like committee acting as one body takes a singular verb. 'Most of the + singular noun' also takes a singular verb.

1. 'Most of the committee' refers to a part of one body (singular noun 'committee').
2. So the verb should be singular: 'is here to', not 'are here to'.
3. Correct: Most of the committee is here to decide the fate of this ancient building.

Trick: Most of + singular noun → singular verb; most of + plural noun → plural verb.

Answer: (A) are here to

Concept: Indigent means very poor; lacking basic necessities.

1. Indigent = needy, poor → impoverished.
2. Affluent (rich) is its antonym; 'bust' means broken/bankrupt (informal), 'low' is too general.

Trick: Don't confuse indigent (poor) with indigenous (native).

Answer: (C) Impoverished

Concept: An extrovert is an outgoing, lively and energetic person who shows enthusiasm openly – the opposite of an introvert.

1. Horticulturist – one who grows gardens/plants.
2. Introvert – a shy, reserved person (opposite idea).
3. Narcissist – one excessively in love with oneself.
4. Of the given choices, only extrovert describes an exuberant, highly enthusiastic person.

Yaad rakhein: An exact word for 'excessive enthusiasm' is zealot/enthusiast; among these options, extrovert is closest.

Answer: (D) Extrovert

Concept: The past tense of bring is brought (b-r-o-u-g-h-t).

1. 'broght' misses the 'u'.
2. Brahgt, bruaght and braoght are not English words.
3. Correct: They brought their dog to the park for a walk.

Trick: bring–brought, buy–bought, think–thought: all end in -ought.

Answer: (A) brought

Concept: Consistent means behaving in the same way over time; steady and reliable.

1. Opposite of steady/same every time = unpredictable (changing, not able to be foreseen).
2. Standard is close to a synonym; appreciative and enthusiastic are unrelated.

Yaad rakhein: Consistent ↔ inconsistent, erratic, unpredictable.

Answer: (D) Unpredictable

Concept: Under one's belt = already achieved or experienced, something that adds to one's experience.

1. She now has more than a year of experience as minister → 'under her belt'.
2. 'On thin ice' = in a risky situation; 'in the fast lane' = exciting, busy life; 'down for the count' = defeated.

Yaad rakhein: have X years under one's belt = have gained X years of experience.

Answer: (A) under her belt

Concept: From cradle to grave = throughout one's entire life, from birth to death.

1. Cradle = a baby's bed (birth); grave = burial place (death).
2. So the idiom covers the whole span of life, e.g. 'welfare from cradle to grave'.

Yaad rakhein: Cradle (birth) → grave (death) = entire life.

Answer: (B) During the whole span of one’s life

Concept: After the infinitive marker to we use the base form (V1) of the verb: want to + V1.

1. 'wanted to visiting' is wrong – 'to' here is part of the infinitive, not a preposition.
2. 'to be visit', 'to visited', 'to visitor' are also wrong.
3. Correct: He wanted to visit the Golden Temple.

Trick: want / decide / hope + to + V1.

Answer: (D) wanted to visit

Concept: To be critical of someone means to express disapproval of them or of what they do or think.

1. 'Always disapproves the things or opinions of others' = is critical of others.
2. Insensitive = ignoring feelings; hate monger = spreads hatred; jealous = envious – not the same as disapproving.

Yaad rakhein: critical of = disapproving, fault-finding.

Answer: (C) is critical of others

Concept: The correct idiom is a piece of cake, meaning something very easy to do.

1. The idiom has a fixed form; 'biscuit', 'pastry', 'tart' or 'toast' are not used.
2. Example: The exam was a piece of cake.

Yaad rakhein: Piece of cake = cakewalk = very easy.

Answer: (B) cake

Concept: See eye to eye = to agree fully with someone; to have the same opinion.

1. Usually used in the negative: 'They don't see eye to eye on politics.'
2. The idiom has nothing to do with ignoring, getting upset or doing something pointless.

Yaad rakhein: See eye to eye = be of one mind.

Answer: (A) To agree with someone